Single Use Plastic – RMRS Position Statement & Reduction Strategies

Ridge Meadows Recycling Society’s Position Statement on the Reduction of Single-Use Plastic Items

Single use disposable plastic items including take out containers such as cups, plates, bowls, forks, spoons, knives, plastic straws and stirrers, plastic bags and plastic water bottles pose a serious environmental problem around the world.

These items are used once and are often discarded in our streets and parks. Plastic items do not go away, they simply break down into increasingly smaller pieces.

Plastics fragments can release toxic chemicals into the environment and can be a serious health risk for humans and animals.

It is time for all of us, including both residents and businesses in Maple Ridge, to get serious about reducing the consumption of single use disposable plastic items.

REDUCE – Choose to avoid single use items. “Just say NO to plastic straws.” Support regional strategies and/or bans on single use items.

The Problem With Plastic

Did you know every piece of plastic ever created still exists on our planet today? This is because plastic never goes away, it just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces.

There are a number of issues with having this much plastic in our environment:
1. It never goes away.
2. It absorbs chemicals. This means recycled plastic cannot be made into food-grade containers and absorbed chemicals in non-recycled plastic may be released into the environment or any animal that ingests it.
3. Animals of all sizes mistake pieces of plastic as food, both on land and in the water.
4. Chemicals absorbed by animals affect their endocrine (hormonal) systems and can be passed to their offspring or passed along the food chain if they are eaten by a larger animal.

But look around you – how many other plastic items do you see that don’t fit into the “packaging” category and are not recyclable? What could you use as an alternative? How much plastic do you come in contact with each day?

Movie Screenings

Ridge Meadows Recycling also has local screening rights to some great movies about this issue:

The Clean Bin Project: “Is it possible to live completely waste free? In this multi-award winning, festival favourite, partners Jen and Grant go head to head in a competition to see who can swear off consumerism and produce the least garbage Their light-hearted competition is set against a darker examination of the problem waste. Even as Grant and Jen start to garner interest in their project, they struggle to find meaning in their minuscule influence on the large-scale environmental impacts of our ‘throw-away society’. Described as An Inconvenient Truth meets Super Size Me, The Clean Bin Project features laugh out loud moments, stop motion animations, and unforgettable imagery. Captivating interviews with renowned artist, Chris Jordan and TED Lecturer Captain Charles Moore, make this film a fun and inspiring call to individual action that speaks to crowds of all ages.”

A Plastic Ocean:“In the center of the Pacific Ocean gyre our researchers found more plastic than plankton. A Plastic Ocean documents the newest science, proving how plastics, once they enter the oceans, break up into small particulates that enter the food chain where they attract toxins like a magnet. These toxins are stored in seafood’s fatty tissues, and eventually consumed by us.” Filmed in multiple locations around the world, “A Plastic Ocean” fearlessly tackles one of the largest and most wide-spread problems in our modern world.

Email leanne@rmrecycling.org if you are interested in setting up screenings for your school, office, or community group. We also recommend “The Lorax” to introduce the topic to younger audiences.

Take Action!

There are also a number of easy ways for YOU to start reducing your use of single-use plastic TODAY. Check out these tips & ideas: